To be a Hunter
by ElCapitan18
Summary: Delani Lavellan and Commander Cullen did not always see eye to eye. There was a short time where the two actually disliked each other. This one shot takes place before To the Void and Back, and might be the first of many more shots. (Minimal Spoilers)


She'd run off again. There was a hole in the sky that threatened to swallow the entire world and the only person who could do anything about it had run off. As though it weren't bad enough that she simply refused to live within the safety of Haven's walls, the Dalish elf seemed to disappear the moment that they needed to discuss something of importance with her. Such as who she would be recruiting to the Inquisition's banner. The Breach in the sky needed to be closed and the decision to side with the mages or the Templars had fallen into the Herald's hands. It was a decision that she was loath to make.

Cullen cut through the trees, taking the worn path to the small hunting lodge that Delani Lavellan had decided to claim as her own. He knew she wouldn't be there. He had already sent men to call for her and they had returned to him with blank stares and apologetic shrugs.

Lady Lavellan was a hunter, and she knew how to cover her tracks well. If she did not want to be found, then she would not be. It was a vexing lesson that Cullen had yet to come to terms with. Whenever she vanished like this a very large part of him was always concerned that she would not return. Delani was their only way to seal rifts, without her the Inquisition would be back where they had started.

Arriving at the hunting lodge, Cullen scanned the area for any signs that the Herald had returned from wherever it was that she had run off to. Smoke streamed through the chimney but the hearth seemed to be the only source of light inside. The area was quiet, serene, with only the hushed din of training soldiers sounding in the distance. Birds chirped happily as they fluttered about in the tree branches, and there was the scuttle of nugs scampering about. It was a peaceful day, and there was no sign of Delani anywhere.

An irritated sigh expelled through his nose. _Andraste grant me patience_. It was like she had a nose for when she was needed. As soon as she scented someone coming to her for aid, Delani would vanish without a trace and only return once the matter had settled itself. Unfortunately, more and more matters were falling into her hands to be settled, and she could not continue to avoid them. The Inquisition needed Delani, whether or not she was willing to accept the role she now played in it.

Curiosity pulled him toward the cabin's door. Even though he knew that the elf woman was not inside, Cullen knocked regardless, if only to say he had. When he was met with the expected silence, he tested the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. For a moment, Cullen stood there debating his next move.

To say that he was not curious about the elf woman would be a bold faced lie. Their interactions were short and far in between. Delani did not trust him, nor any of the other humans she was now forced to work with. She would regard him with her sharp sea green eyes, inspecting him as though she were expecting him to attack her at any moment. Cullen didn't know what he had done to warrant such ferocious animosity from her.

His fingers tightened on the door handle, still conflicted on whether he should enter the cabin or wait for Lady Lavellan outside. His gut warned him that she would be infuriated to discover that he had invaded her personal space without her consent. But his curiosity insisted that this hunting lodge belonged to the Inquisition and, as the Inquisition's commander, he had every right to see for himself what the Herald of Andraste was up to inside.

Cullen knew that his logic was lacking. This cabin was Lady Lavellan's escape from Haven, from the soldiers and the gawkers, and the pressure everyone now placed on her shoulders without her approval. She had chosen this place specifically to be left alone. To enter the cabin without her permission would be to steal from her the only sanctuary she had, and that was something Cullen simply could not allow himself to do.

He released the handle and took a step back. The heat of his exhale misted the air before him. Even as a small voice in the back of his mind complained about his curiosity remaining insatiated, Cullen knew that minding his own business was the right call. And it was one that he had made just in time.

"Did you need something, Commander?"

He started at the suddenness of Delani's voice behind him, nearly jumping clean out of his skin. Whipping around to face the Herald, Cullen's gloved hand immediately went to his neck and he could feel blood start to rush to his features as though he had been caught doing something wrong.

"Your Worship," he said too quickly before clearing the surprise from his voice. Offering her an apologetic half smile, Cullen confessed, "I did not hear you approach."

Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. Tightening her jaw, she rebuked, "That's because I did not want you to."

They stood there for a moment, staring at one another, the tension between them growing with each abated breath. Cullen took in the sight of the elf woman standing several feet away from him. Her auburn hair was tousled by the cold wind, crimson strands caressing over her features, a startling contrast to the vibrant green of her eyes. The tone of her skin reminded Cullen of freshly polished bronze, the warm undertones giving her a clay color that he had never seen before meeting her.

She was dressed in warm hunter garbs, lined with fur and made with easy mobility in mind. It wasn't a human design, and Cullen couldn't help but wonder if she had crafted it herself at Harritt's crafting table. Her feet were bare in the snow, and Cullen felt a chill creep through him on her behalf. Strung with a rope and draped on Delani's shoulder was a pair of dead rabbits.

Cullen's brows shot up with surprise. He had heard a handful of offended whispers in the tavern about how the Herald of Andraste refused to eat the food that was served there, but he had tallied it up to overly dramatic speculation. Now he could see for himself that perhaps the rumors were not entirely baseless.

"You went hunting," he observed, the statement sounding more like a question.

Green eyes narrowed with distrust, Delani kept her sharp gaze on him for a second before she lifted her chin and replied, "It's kind of what I do, Commander." Before he could mumble a response, she cut past him and entered the hunting lodge. She left the door open behind her, and Cullen wasn't sure whether or not he could count it as an invitation to enter.

After a moment of contemplating the meaning of the open door, Cullen sucked in a deep breath and stepped inside the hunting lodge. Shutting the door behind him, he looked around the cabin, taking stock of all the items inside. It appeared as though Delani hadn't really claimed the place. Aside from the bed and the table in the corner, the cabin remained relatively untouched since the last time he had stepped foot inside of it.

Standing at the table near the fire, where herbs were strung up to dry in the daylight, Delani had started to skin the rabbits. Without looking back at him, she instructed him to, "Add some wood to the fire," before softening her request with an awkward, "please."

Cullen did as was asked of him. Walking over to the hearth, he crouched down before it, picked up a few logs from the pile beside the fireplace, and carefully set them into the flames. There was a cauldron with boiling water hanging over the fire, ready to be filled with the makings of a stew.

As Cullen stoked the flames, he dared to break the tense silence with a question. "The Inquisition has cooks, why don't you eat what they serve?" He glanced over his shoulder at her, watching as she prepared the rabbit meat with seasoning.

Without looking back at him, her focus remained on her task when she answered, "I will not be indebted to you people." Finally turning to face him, she walked over and plopped the meat into the boiling water. Delani stirred the soup with a wooden spoon, adding, "I will do what has to be done and I will return to my clan. The fewer favors I owe you, the sooner I can be on my way."

Pushing himself back onto his feet he crossed his arms in front of his chest and carefully regarded the elf woman. There was something about her that beckoned his curiosity, and it was far more than the inarguable fact that she was beautiful. Cullen had seen her interact with Solas and Varric, he knew that she was capable of more than this cold, inapproachable shield that she put up while speaking to him or the other humans in Haven. He had heard the dwarf even pull a laugh out of Delani, and she always had a smile ready for Solas.

Cullen wanted to know what it was like to stand on the other side of that protective wall that she put up. But his every previous attempt always ended in failure. Still, Cullen was determined to try. He was not one to back down from a challenge, and getting to know Delani Lavellan would be exactly that.

He quirked an eyebrow and asked, "If you dislike it here so much then why do you stay?"

Side eyeing him, Delani straightened herself out and gave him a curious look before returning to the table, collecting the diced vegetables, and adding them to the soup. Clapping her hands clean, Delani sighed through her nose and stared at the fire. The orange glow danced in the greens of her eyes, making them look otherworldly as she considered his question.

Glancing up at him, she gave him a measured look before she answered. "I've tried to leave," she confessed with a sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose before combing her hair out of her face. With a dispassionate shake of her head, Delani informed him, "It would be so easy to just go and never look back."

She lifted her marked hand and stared down at it, the green glow crackled with energy and another heavy breath eased out through her nose. "But that hole in the sky effects everyone, as does this conflict with the mages and Templars, my clan included. If I run, I'm likely taking the resolution to both problems with me. And what would that make me then?"

Sea green eyes searched amber and Cullen's voice was caught in his throat. She was asking _him_? Carefully holding her gaze, he supplied, "Selfish."

Her eyes widened with surprise before she laughed with amusement and agreement through her nose. The sound of it was startling to him. She had actually laughed. He had actually made her laugh. Cullen didn't know why he counted it as such a victory, but with that sound of amusement he had gained some ground in finding his way onto her good side. He would take what he could get.

"Yes," she agreed with him, closing her hand and returning it to her side. A small smile hinted at the corner of her mouth before she added, "Selfish and a coward. It goes against who I am."

When Delani turned to face him full on, it was with the question, "How much do you know about the Dalish, Commander?"

The question caught him off guard, and Cullen frantically racked his brain for all the information that he had on the topic. He had only met a single other Dalish in his entire life, and the circumstances of that meeting had left little room for cultural conversation. When his mind came up blank heat started to burn the back of his neck, and he nervously rubbed it so that Delani would not see his reddening skin. "Embarrassingly little, I'm afraid."

She nodded as though she had expected as much. "Being a hunter in a Dalish clan means more than killing animals for their meat and making sure that the people have food in their bellies," she started, her attention moving to the cauldron as she spoke. "Being a hunter means that I am a protector. It means that I stand between any and all threats to my people; be they wolves or bears, or bandits and slavers. As a hunter I know to prioritize the lives of my people above my own. I cannot flinch in the face of danger and I cannot waiver, because to do so could cost the lives of the entire clan."

Cullen listened closely as she spoke. This was the most that she had ever said to him, and he was entranced. He admired how the firelight made her bronzy skin glow, how the shadows danced along her features. Her beauty was strange, exotic, wild and Cullen was fascinated by her.

"There is no room for selfishness or cowardice as a hunter," said Delani with whole hearted conviction in her tone. "To be either of those things is to endanger the entire clan. So if leaving makes me a selfish coward then I put my people at risk. The only choice I have is to stay."

He stared at her for a second, trying to think of something appropriate to say to her, but the words escaped him. Delani did not want to be here. She would help the Inquisition because she thought that it would help her people. And, really, what more could he ask of her? As long as she stayed why did he care what her reasons were? She sealed rifts, her motivations were pure enough, yet still he was unsatisfied.

"You say that but you're not really here," he commented, surprised with himself for finding the words. When she looked up to meet his gaze with confusion in her green eyes, Cullen explained, "You've separated yourself from the rest of the Inquisition. You want no part in the decisions that have to be made, nor do you care to get to know the people who work so hard to make sure that you easily integrate among us."

He gave her a stern look and said, "The Inquisition is _my_ clan and your apathy endangers my soldiers and weakens us as a whole."

Delani's eyebrows shot up with surprise. She gaped at him for a moment, allowing his words to set in. When her expression changed Cullen was astonished that it wasn't with outrage or defensiveness. Delani's features softened with understanding and shame. She bit into her bottom lip and shuffled her feet like a berated child, before looking back up at him with an apology in her eyes.

"You're right," she said and his surprise redoubled. "I've resigned myself to the Inquisition, but I haven't accepted my place within it. You and the others have been accommodating, and I've rejected your kindness with indifference."

The elf woman set her jaw and straightened her back. Her tone rang with sincerity when she finished, "It was wrong of me, I see that now. I apologize for my behavior."

Cullen opened and closed his mouth as he tried to think of how best to reply. Never in a thousand years had he expected to hear her apologize. Delani simply did not seem the type. And yet, that was exactly what she had done, and with such conviction too.

"I— uh, it's fine," he replied, scrambling to find the appropriate words. Offering her a small smile, he stated, "To be fair, your relationship with the Inquisition did not exactly start on the right foot."

She laughed again, heartily this time and something inside of Cullen stirred. The ring of her laughter was melodic, and he wanted to hear it more often. Hopefully now that they had come to an understanding, he would get the chance.

"Then perhaps we should start over," Delani suggested, putting a hand between them. "Hello, my name is Delani Lavellan and I'm Thedas' one last hope against the Breach."

He felt a chuckle rumble through him at her words, and struggled with the smile on his lips. "It's an honor to meet you, my lady." He took her hand and gave it a shake. As he released her hand he admitted, "I look forward to working beside you."

Her smile grew. Gesturing to the cauldron of soup, she wondered, "Would you like to stay for lunch? I'd like to get to know you better."

Cullen finally noticed the mouthwatering smell of the ready food and his stomach rumbled loudly in reply. With a self-conscious chortle, he found it increasingly difficult to say no to her when she looked at him like that. Finally he acquiesced to her request with a nod.

"Alright," he said. "Though I should warn you that there's not much to know."

Walking over to the table to retrieve a couple of bowls, Delani replied, "With all due respect, Commander; I'll decide that for myself."


End file.
